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Issue 1
Welcome
The African Student Organization at IIT is extremely happy to bring you our first alumni newsletter! We are a determined set of individuals led by a team of dedicated leaders, and we are striving
to create awareness about Africa in the IIT community. We also aspire to spread our reach as far
as possible. Our collective vision is: To promote Africa through ethical and global leadership.
Since its inception, the ASO has steadily grown in size, presence and ambition. Though the Organization is still young, we have great goals and we believe we can achieve them. We encourage
you to continue to read our newsletter as we update our wide range of events. From study nights
to barbeques, Information sessions and exposes we are constantly active and evolving, and we will
a walk
Presidents Message
- Malawian Proverb
The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you in the loop of ASO events as well as enlighten you
about the strides that are being made by the organization. This newsletters aims to build a steady
alumni base with the recent graduates as the target audience. It also presents an opportunity for
present members to get in touch with alumni. It is my hope, that this will be the beginning of an
era where ASO alumni will be interested in the activities of the present members and help them
grow as individuals and as a community.
Irewole Akande
President
In This Issue
Other Events
Upcoming Events
Olumurewa Oguntade
Vice- President
NIGERIA
I am a girl currently combining her creative talent and love for problem-solving processes in pursuit of an architectural
degree. My ultimate goal is to contribute to the growth of architecture in my home country, and indeed the world!
I am also an optimistic person with an eagerness for knowledge and new experiences.
Obadamilola Obashoro
Secretary
NIGERIA
Every mountain was once the size of a mole hill. As evident in the circle of life, little things lead to big things. I
do a lot of little things working towards a very big thing in life.
Asbel Assefa
Service and Outreach
ETHIOPIA
Goals and ideals in life : I strive to serve people in creative ways. It is not always obvious how we can use what we
learn in school to serve the world. It takes persistent and believing even in the smallest projects. No matter what it
is that I end up doing in life, I hope for it to be focused on serving those who really need help in our world.
Okuns Osazeme
Academic Chair
NIGERIA
I am a third year at IIT. I enjoy playing basketball and football (soccer). I believe I am quite nice, as well as helpful. My goal
is to grow and learn as much as possible, and to do as much as I can for as many as I can, in the little time afforded to me. I
hope to one day leave my mark on the world through engineering and innovation.
ver the past couple of years, the African Students Organization at Illinois Tech has built
its reputation by our performances in several International events on campus, such as,
the International Festival as well as the Taste of IIT. We have also hosted our various
Cultural shows to show people the African way of living through music, dance and dra-
ma. African students at Illinois Tech can be easily recognized by their easygoing and all-smiling nature, thicker accents, beautiful multicolored clothing and energetic dance performances.
Cultural shows, might portray the culture, but do they really answer those pressing questions people
have concerning Africa? So this year, On Tuesday October 1st, IIT came out to celebrate the Ennoblement of Africa, an event organized by the African Student Organization (ASO) to answer frequently
asked questions about Africa, as well as some questions submitted by IIT students via our Online
Question Asking Form.
The live panel during lunch answered some of these pressing questions . Each question fell into one of
the following categories: Geography and Climate, Cultures and Traditions, People, Quality of life, Education, Sports and Employment. and finally, Diseases and International Aid in Africa. For the transcript, Visit: aso-iit.weebly.com
It was ultimately a very successful event and it was nominated for five campus life excellence awards
among which include: Outstanding Academic and Educational program, Outstanding Diversity /
Multicultural Program and Best Overall program of the year. It went on to win two of these awards
and gain ASO over 13 collaboration requests.
n October 23rd, 2014 IIT hosted it annual International week ending in its awesome
festival, commonly known as the I-fest. As it has been in the past, the African Student Organization featured prominently in the festivities. We put together two
separate performances namely: our African Dance ensemble featuring common
dances, both old and new, choreographed into an amazing 5 minute spectacle and the beautiful fashion show showcasing many different types of African attire from Ghana and Nigeria to
Ethiopia and Kenya, then back again to Senegal.
First was the fashion show. With the much appreciated help of the Vietnamese Student Association, about 25 students cat-walked on the Herman hall auditorium stage, modeling a truly
wide range of attire. The models danced, posed and smiled their way through the presentation, needless to say African attire had never looked better.
The African dance was put together by Mayokun Ogunbekun with input from various other
members of our organization. The routine was practiced constantly till it could be done not
only in unison but with grace and emotion. On the day of the I-Fest, prior to the performance,
the dancers donned their colorful Dashikis and black pants, they painted their faces and then
together, they prayed for Gods guidance in their upcoming endeavor. As they stepped on
stage, the crowd went silent and the music begun to play around the Herman hall Auditorium
and in one inspiring collective effort they gave a performance that can only be described as
awesome.
At the end of the day we couldnt help but celebrate, because Africans had succeeded in positively representing themselves that day.
To see videos of our performances, visit our YouTube channel here
Former Events Coordinator Mayokun Ogunbekun and Treasurer Odike Eze Echesi for
Outstanding Executive Member award.
Current and former Presidents of ASO Jong Massaquoi and Irewole Akande for Outstanding student organization president award.
The Ennoblement of Africa event which was held on the 1st of October was nominated for
Outstanding Academic/Educational Program, Excellence in programming, Outstanding Social and Entertainment Program, Outstanding Diversity/Multicultural Program, and Outstanding Overall Program award. The ASO won in the following categories.
Excellence in programming
Despite not winning any individual awards, the ASO and its members were recognized for
their hard work and dedication in putting on an outstanding event. When asked his
thoughts on the night junior student James Mwakichako said The awards scooped at the
ceremony are a testament of what ASO has done and a foreshadowing of what is to come.
The hard work, dedication and commitment of everyone on the board and the general
body has paid off.
The ASO is humbled by the recognition it got from IIT-campus life and plans to put on diverse
and educational events in the coming semesters.
UPCOMING EVENTS
This Spring semester, we will be hosting several events, among which include:
February 9th: Resume Workshop and Internship Talks .
February 19th: Movie Showing and Discussion (The Good Lie) .
March 12th: Dignification of the African woman (Speaker event).
April 19th25th: ASO Week (Variety of events).
Contact Us
Give us a call for more information about our activities
Email: aso@iit.edu
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/aso.iit
ration of their education at IIT. The proposed price money is currently valued at $1500.
EDITORIAL TEAM
A soft proposal is being put together for the Office by a team that is tasked
with following this plan through. The team is being led by Irewole
EDITORS:
Irewole Akande
After the proposal is accepted by the Office, then further steps which in-
Osazeme Okuns
PICTURES:
Wudasse Berke
Jong Massaquoi
tance, and I believe that it will be great if we can have a group which could
serve as a mentor and watchman over the organization here on campus.
This is another task we wish to undertake, and we will be more than grateful for your input
Irewole Akande